02 – Gestures and Embodied Cognition – Scott Thornbury

Masters of TESOL

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In class, we point behind us to represent the past. Forward for the future. But, other than Total Physical Response, how else can we use gestures?

Scott Thornbury is the second of my “ambush interviews”. His current workshop revolves around using gestures beyond the simple physical references, going deeper into how they affect cognition and strengthen recall.

For example, using gestures to represent the present perfect is a weird idea that a lot of teachers – and students – might be hesitant to use at first. However, there is evidence that using gestures to teach this tense, which can be extremely confusing for learners whose first language doesn’t have a similar form, has a more profound impact than regular teaching techniques.

Also, what’s the strangest question a student has asked you? Record me a short file and let me know – www.mastersoftesol.com – Shy types can tweet me and I’ll read it. @MOTcast Let’s hear what weird things people wanted to know!

Useful links:

Scott Thornbury’s books on Amazon

Louder Than Words – Bergan

Music: Les Juanitos – “Soul Walking”

This podcast is for ESL, EFL, TESOL, TEFL, ELT teaching